Sunday, November 17, 2013

Painting Day at Stillwater Farm

 

Barn façade at Stillwater Farm, Sterling MA


We had one of those surprisingly warm, sunny November afternoons (this is New England, after all), so some of us went out to Stillwater Farm Interpretive Center in Sterling, MA. for a plein air painting session.

This is an old family farm, where land is now kept for conservation, and the buildings and barn are stabilized and used in order to provide a sense of the area's agricultural past. A pleasant spot for visiting and hiking, and also painting.

On this visit, we were also approached by family members, who were nearby to take care of things after the passing of one of the individuals who had grown up on the farm. In addition to stories of visiting the farm as a child, one woman asked me "Why are you painting this? Is it just something to do? 
Years of patches and repairs.

Where she probably just saw the family's barn looking like it was in imminent danger of collapse, I saw the history of repairs made over the years, in that typically frugal manner of rural New England.
Joseph's watercolor sketch

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